Josh Perkins out indefinitely with broken jaw

As it was initially feared, Gonzaga's freshman point guard Josh Perkins is out indefinitely with a broken jaw, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.  Perkins took a kick to the face from Georgia's Kenny Gaines late in the Zags win over the Bulldogs.

If you haven't seen it about 10,000 times, here's the play that resulted in the injury.  I've made my opinion clear that Gaines should receive some type of suspension for the play.

There hasn't yet been a timetable on what 'indefinite' means in Perkins' case but the jaw has been wired shut meaning that I think we are several months out from a return.  If that is the case, Mark Few will likely pursue a hardship waiver for Perkins so that he can medically redshirt.

It is a huge blow for the Zags as Perkins was off to a very solid start to his Gonzaga career and was providing solid minutes at the point guard position.  With this injury, it will be interesting to see how the staff progresses this season and if they stick to their redshirt decisions.  Mark Few will get Eric McClellan back after Christmas break so that will provide them with a bit more backcourt depth but burning Silas Melson's redshirt is absolutely an option in my opinion.

While Melson won't replace the point guard skills of Perkins, he'll add some much needed depth and is a guard that can actually score the basketball.  Kyle Dranginis is currently the only option backing up Pangos and Bell and he has shown no real consistent ability to score or create offensively.  Byron Wesley has also struggled to find offensive consistency even though he has provided quality play defensively and on the glass.

Best wishes to Perkins and hopefully he has a full recovery.